My house was built in 1947 and has 5/8 iron plumbing.A fitting sprung a leak from years of corrosion and I fixed it and the surrounding pipe with comparable components.The old pipe was clogged up with corrosion.I want to upgrade with new pipes.Should I stick with the 5/8 iron or galvanized pipe or can I go to 1/2 copper with good results?Basically what I want to know is does it matter to convert to 1/2 copper.
Copper is the best, and what I have in my own home. Nearly all homes now use 3/4 inch pipe as mains, with the take offs in 1/2 inch. This works good, with little droop when you are taking a shower, and someone flushes somewhere else. Good luck.
the answers here amaze me. your old pipe appears larger and seems like 5/8th because you are measuring the outside diameter. all pipes are referred to by their inner diameter and they are equivalent in size no matter what type of material is being used. stick with copper and it should be sized by a professional if you are redoing the whole house. if you are just replacing that section, you are choosing correctly. remember, measure the inside diameter.
Investigate the plastic waterlines. Both glued pvc and the pex brand. Both are modern alternatives to traditional copper piping. If properly installed they have a good service record and are generally acceptable with most building departments. Copper is great but sometimes difficult to retrofit to old construction as well as being expensive. In most modern homes today there is always some sort of plastic water or drain lines being used. The reason being it is made very tough now and actually outperforms other traditional materials. Copper waterlines are not permanent. They can corrode from the inside out if exposed to acidic water for prolonged periods. As you can tell I am a fan of the plastics. Having built a number of houses using both materials I would alway choose the plastic over copper. Nuf said. Hope this helps.
